Jose Mujica-The world's poorest president

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20243493

World’s poorest president rejects pension

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/entertainment/news/article/2001292672/worlds-poorest-president-rejects-pension

https://theworld.org/stories/2015-03-02/perhaps-worlds-most-humble-leader-humbly-steps-down

Uruguay's ex-president 'Pepe' Mujica home after fish bone scare https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210428-uruguay-s-ex-president-pepe-mujica-home-after-fish-bone-scare

José Mujica - The humblest President in the World

https://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/jose-mujica-humblest-president-in-the-world.html

José Mujica, the 77 year old former President of Uruguay [2010-15], a tiny country in Latin America, preferred to live on his modest farm instead of the majestic Presidential residence. One could see clothes hanging for drying outside his modest hut which had shrubs and trees around, besides his floriculture cultivation for which he personally tilled with his tractor. He would welcome his uninvited guests by preparing Mate, a traditional drink served in a guampa, a type of cup made from hollow gourd.

Mujica is a vegetarian and never wore a tie. The road leading to his humble residence was not even paved. All the possession he had was 1,800 dollars, and an old car which he used to drive himself. The land, his house and his tractor belonged to his wife who was a Senator. He led an austere lifestyle and donated around 90 percent of his $12,000 monthly salary to charities that benefited poor people and small entrepreneurs. His security was handled by two plain clothes policemen guarding his home. He used to move around like a common citizen.

Once he was spotted by a young man eating at an ordinary restaurant near the seaside where he was on a holiday with his family. This young person recognized him and put this information on Facebook. Reading his post on Facebook, thousands of citizens of that country were surprised and one reader posted this comment, “Ours must be the only country where you would find a President with his wife eating at an ordinary restaurant and that too without any security!” He was inspired by the Cuban revolution and has also spent 14 years in jail. In 1985 he was released after a new government was installed.

Because of his simple living, he had become a topic of discussion around the world during his tenure. He had remarked at that time that poor is not the one who has no material possession, but poor is the person who accumulates in his greed for wanting more and more.

Not only does he lead a simple life, but also advises and advocates simple living to the others in the world. ... José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (Spanish: [xoˈse muˈxika]; born 20 May 1935) is a Uruguayan politician, former revolutionary and farmer who served as the 40th President of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015.[1] A former guerrilla with the Tupamaros, he was tortured and imprisoned for 14 years during the military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s.

As the candidate of the Broad Front, he won the 2009 presidential election and took office as President on 1 March 2010.

He has been described as "the world's humblest head of state" due to his austere lifestyle and his donation of around 90 percent of his $12,000 monthly salary to charities that benefit poor people and small entrepreneurs. An outspoken critic of capitalism's focus on stockpiling material possessions which do not contribute to human happiness, Pepe is often seen riding his 60-year-old bicycle.

Mujica was born on 20 May 1935, to Demetrio Mujica, of Spanish Basque ancestry,[5][6] and Lucy Cordano, a daughter of Italian immigrants. Mujica's father was a small farmer who went bankrupt shortly before his death in 1940, when his son was five. His mother's parents were very poor Italian immigrants from Liguria. Lucy Cordano was born in Carmelo, where her parents had bought 2 hectares (4.9 acres) in Colonia Jose to cultivate vineyards. Between the ages of 13 and 17, Mujica cycled for several clubs in different categories.

In 2005, Mujica married Lucía Topolansky, a fellow former Tupamaros member after many years living together. They have no children and live on a farm owned by Lucía in the outskirts of Montevideo, where they cultivate chrysanthemums for sale, having declined to live in the presidential palace or to use its staff.[44] Also living at his farm is his three-legged dog, Manuela.[45] Topolansky briefly served as acting president in November 2010 while her husband took part in a business delegation to Spain and Vice President Astori was on an official trip to Antarctica.[46] Before then, she served in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

Mujica has drawn worldwide attention for his simple lifestyle. He has used a 1987 Volkswagen Beetle as a means of transportation.In 2010, the value of the car was $1,800 and represented the entirety of the mandatory annual personal wealth declaration filed by Mujica for that year. In November 2014, the Uruguayan newspaper Búsqueda reported that he had been offered 1 million dollars for the car; he said that if he did get 1 million dollars for the car, it would be donated to house the homeless through a program that he supports. Mujica is an atheist.[54]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mujica

Credit: Jose Mujica-The world's poorest president (bbc)